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CASAA Calls For Action Against Deceptive E-Cig Bill

The Consumer Advocates For Smoke-Free Alternatives Association (CASAA) is urging vapers to speak up against a Missouri bill, which it refers to as “a vapor ban disguised as product registration.”

Diane Caruana

July 8, 2020

The Missouri Legislature is working on passing a legislation, a licensing bill for vaping products which if passed would ban any of the products that the FDA has not accepted a premarket application for, as of July 1st.

As the May 12th PMTA deadline was fast approaching, a number of entities including Altria Group Inc. and tobacco association NATO, had asked the FDA to push the deadline back due to the complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

To this effect, on March 30th the agency filed a request for a 120-day extension on the deadline, and on April 3rd, Judge Paul Grimm of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland agreed to the request, moving the deadline to September 9th, 2020.

The burden added by SB 1085

SB 1085 requires e-cig manufacturers to register their products and be listed in a database similar to the one already maintained by the FDA, and the extra cost for this registration could be up to $500 per product.

SB 1085 would require any e-cig manufacturers (liquids and devices) to register their products with the state prior to being sold in Missouri. The registry, to be maintained by the state, would be publicly accessible so that businesses and other interested parties are able to confirm that any products they may be interested in are available for sale in the state.

While this database sounds strikingly similar to the database already maintained by the FDA, the extra cost to manufacturers for complying with product registration could be up to $500 per product, a significant burden to businesses when they already have to pay significant amounts for the nationwide PMTA.

SB 1085 states that the yet-to-be-determined fee should only be enough to cover the cost of administering the registry, however right points out CASAA, consumers and industry shouldn’t have to pay for Missouri to be able to duplicate a product registry that is already maintained by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

An opportunity for vapers to fight back

Moreover, adds CASAA, the state of Missouri has no business taking over the role of enforcing FDA rules and guidance, especially given the fact that such rules and guidance are constantly changing. With this in mind, the association is urging vapers to take action by signing the following message, which will be then be automatically forwarded to Senate.